Oma

I can give you my opinion because I have all three.  Leader Grips were fine, but I almost immediately upgraded to Red Snappers which I still use.  I don't remember why I did that.  
 
I usually pin the top of the back and I use the Red Snappers on the bottom of the back.  I do this because I have a Liberty with a 20 inch throat and some of my quilts are fairly big.  If I use Red Snappers sometimes the tube gets in a position just right to take up ½ inch or so of my throat space and I have trouble getting the needle to the other edge if I'm using my CL boards.  I hope that makes sense, anyway, I float my tops. 
 
I had (and still have) several sets of zippers and hated them from day one.  It was way more work than pinning or using the Red Snappers.  The zippers are nice if you have to remove the quilt in the middle of quilting it in order to put another quilt on.  I don't sew for others so that was never an issue.

I use both Red Snappers and Zippers. I use RS for quick quilts; and zippers for long term quilts I may want to remove in order to quilt a different quilt. The zippers are sewn onto the leaders which are already attached to the frame. I created another "leader that is the length of my current leaders (12' frame)  but is about 8" to 10" wide. I have zippers on one side and then sewed the casing on the other which the Red Snapper fits into. This allows me to not have the pressure to finish quilts I want to spend a lot of time on just to quickly quilt another that may have come up on the spur of the moment. (Sometimes the custom quilt quits speaking to me and I have to put it away until I come up with a plan, LOL)
 
Oma is correct that the Red Snapper on the roller where you pin the top of the backing to does take up a little bit of space and can cause the back your machine to catch - My Mille's extra box for the bobbin winder hits it. I don't quilt for others and create my backs just a little bit longer in order to roll that RS behind the bar where it is out of the way.
 
I use safety pins on my zippers; those work the best for me especially if I am taking them on and off the frame.
 
Think about what kind of quilting you are going to do and if you think you might do some custom quilting you may want to invest in both systems at some time. I am very glad I did.
 
2014-05-13 19.08.47 by Lisa C., on Flickr

I call myself the 'cobbler with no shoes'  because I quilt for everyone else except me!  
So my goal was to make a quilt for our new house,   our new bed....
 
I wanted calm neutral colours reminding me of sand or pebbles.....I made this quilt  using the pattern "Sweet Garden" from Carolina Patchworks.    I was intending to make the entire king size with this pattern -  and I did.  Then I hated it, so I chopped 2/3s of the pattern off and added white for some neutral breathing space.  
 
Simple quilting in between the blocks.   
And then I got carried away in the white.     [
 
 

UPDATED FEB 3,2022
Thank you for your overwhelming interest in this piece I quilted for my client back in 2015.  
many have inquired about the pattern for the quilt as well as the digital patterns for the quilting.  
I have attached the book used to inspire this piece as my client did do modifications to the pattern 
for the Stars to fit her liking.  
The Quilting was all freehand on my APQS Milli.  of course,... you could use a feather stencil or digital feather design 
and a ruler for the straighline work... 
I hope this helps anyone looking to make this quilt,.. or a version of it,.. 
Happy Quilting
Laura

Update,..... 
I did point out mistake to customer and we both decided it needed to be fixed. 
so,... spent an afternoon picking out stitches,  and 10 minutes to restitch the Feather,...
I was happy to do it as it was my mistake,.... 
I always point out mistakes if any,.. big or small
and let the customer decide,.... 
this one I knew she would want fixed,.... 
She is very pleased with the end result!!! 
and so am I!!! 
Thanks for looking ,.... 
Happy Quilting,...
Laura
 
 
 
 
Love the combination of the two,...  Simple,.. with a pop!!! 
I used a double Cotton Batting on this one,..  wanted the feathers to stand up
and take center stage,... Matching Glide Threads in the Grey, Burgundy and White Areas,...
Thanks for looking,...
 
** can you see the mistake?  Found it after I pulled it off the frame,....  :0)
 
 

I have 3 of these quilts to quilt. Lera did this blue quilt and the pink quilts for her granddaughters for Christmas.  I have one more and it is in red, white and blue and is made by Virginia. The pattern is by Amy Bradley.
 
Used 80/20 batting with Metro and Glide threads.  Thanks for looking. I think these two girl are going to be very happy!!!
 
Of course there are more pictures on flickr.  LOL
 
 
 
 
20151022_124918 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr
20151022_124944 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr
 
20151018_163445 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr
20151018_163505 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr

Thank you...I intend to try. LOL. As odd as this sounds...I have NEVER been bored a day in my life. My problem was always finding enough time to do all of the things I wanted to do.

Cant say enough about CL, Michael, Kay, and the fun it is to utilize these boards, and enhance them with your own added style!
I will never part with mine. They will be pry'd from my cold dead fingers. yup yup.

So I discovered today that putting a quilt top on my table to work on later might not be the best idea. Right now I'm still learning quilting and just working on my own projects so not a huge deal. If I ever start doing customers quilts I will probably need to make my sewing room a cat free zone.

I hesitate to say "finished", but I am back to sewing in there and it is FULL so I guess I am finished. I wanted to take pics of it all "clean", but that isn't happening either, so here I go. LOL
This is looking straight at the Koala cabinet I sew on. You can't see all of the plastic bins on the shelf behind because of the design board being up. The Studio Cutter is to the left and there is a closet with shelves to the right. The shelf with the rectangle of fish fabric is my computer. My most current quilt magazines are in front of the cabinet and organized.
I cut up my old cutting mat to cover this cabinet in hopes of protecting the top. I also like to cut some there.
I'm working on several projects at the same time and that's why I have my embroidery unit out and the serger setting out and another sewing machine.

Marti,
Use Super or Crazy glue. Watch the fingers.
Michael

I love mine too. 

Simply awesome Oma! Someday my studio will be a real one again!

I hesitate to say "finished", but I am back to sewing in there and it is FULL so I guess I am finished. I wanted to take pics of it all "clean", but that isn't happening either, so here I go. LOL
This is looking straight at the Koala cabinet I sew on. You can't see all of the plastic bins on the shelf behind because of the design board being up. The Studio Cutter is to the left and there is a closet with shelves to the right. The shelf with the rectangle of fish fabric is my computer. My most current quilt magazines are in front of the cabinet and organized.
I cut up my old cutting mat to cover this cabinet in hopes of protecting the top. I also like to cut some there.
I'm working on several projects at the same time and that's why I have my embroidery unit out and the serger setting out and another sewing machine.

I hesitate to say "finished", but I am back to sewing in there and it is FULL so I guess I am finished. I wanted to take pics of it all "clean", but that isn't happening either, so here I go. LOL
This is looking straight at the Koala cabinet I sew on. You can't see all of the plastic bins on the shelf behind because of the design board being up. The Studio Cutter is to the left and there is a closet with shelves to the right. The shelf with the rectangle of fish fabric is my computer. My most current quilt magazines are in front of the cabinet and organized.
I cut up my old cutting mat to cover this cabinet in hopes of protecting the top. I also like to cut some there.
I'm working on several projects at the same time and that's why I have my embroidery unit out and the serger setting out and another sewing machine.

This is a close up of the Studio Cutter cabinet. It doesn't match the koala cabinets, but it is well made and is PERFECT for all the AccuQuilt stuff. I found it cheaper than the AccuQuilt site and free shipping and NO tax! The price was great!

That is an amazing studio. I love how you have everything organized. How big is your room? I need to have my husband help me put up one of my peg boards so I can hang stuff on it. I'm happy for you that you had the chance to get your room organized it looks great . 

Wow, You do have a lot of stuff!  But it is so well organized! I need to tweak my studio a little, but right now I'm swamped getting ready for our guild's quilt show .  I really like your work table in the center and the storage under your machine.

WOW!!!   And that pretty well covers how much I love Oma's room.
 
Marilyn

Thanks everyone for your help.  We negotiated reducing the outer border to a size that I can comfortably handle.

Thank you Dawn.  I have a Liberty, but so much of this information is pertinent and extremely useful to me.  I'm going to adjust my table height now...yay!

I replaced mine a couple of years ago. I did pretty much what Angie did, except I used Carpet tape. This was recommended by Amy at APQS. Once I had the old leaders removed and any excess adhesive on the conduit pipe removed, then I placed my double sided carpet tape. I lightly pressed this on the pipe, just in case I need to straighten it out. Once the tape was on, then I lined up the canvas leaders on the carpet tape, just pressing lightly again until the leader on was on the length of the pipe. Then pressed down securely with my hands.
Before you take off your old leaders, make sure you know which way your leaders roll on to the pipes. I marked the end of my pipes with blue painters tape and an arrow.
It really is pretty easy to replace your old leaders, just take your time.

Georgene,
Do you have your old leaders off the rollers?
Are your present leaders "glued" to the rollers? I remember that was challenging to remove all that old glue when I redid my Ultimate II leaders. My husband used some type of scraper to remove the glue residue and then we wiped them down with some type of cleaner---sorry I don't have the name of cleaner.
I just this past week installed Zippers on my Prodigy leaders and one of the leaders on the take up roller was not straight I discovered when I zipped the take up leader to the front zippered leaders. So, I ripped that one off, and re taped it.
I have taped leaders onto rollers (Super Quilter, Hinterberg, Ultimate II and now the Prodigy) using Scotch Clear Duct Tape. Scotch makes the very best adhesive tapes. Once you use their tapes compared to others ---well, lets just say there is a big difference in how well they adhere, and how long their tapes stay put.
You need to find some form of seam line on your rollers, use the previous line or create one with a chalk line.
If you have no one to help you, this is the method I have used in the past to attach cloth leaders to conduit or metal rollers.
Buy several rolls of regular "double sided" (sticky on both sides) Scotch brand tape. It is about 3/4" inches wide. Apply this double sided tape to your metal conduit roller FIRST with one edge right on your reference line. Now, press the edge of your cloth leader to this sticky double sided tape. It will hold the leader in place just long enough for you to apply the Scotch 2" Clear Duct tape onto the leader fabric. Overlap half of the duct tape onto the leader cloth edge, and the other half onto the metal. The double sided sticky tape is left under the edge of the leader fabric. You may also do another length of the Scotch Clear Duct tape just overlapping the first if you wish, but one length seems to be strong enough.
Hope this helps---
PS. I found Karen's instructions for leaders and zippers a bit confusing. But, it could be me----I used The Quilt Connections marked zippers set, and their instructions were great for installing the zippers. I can post pictures of the zippered leaders if you want.
I don't know why it has taken me years of pinning to finally decide to try zippers. Loving them!

Hi,
I'm posting this for Vicki Nielsen from BC, Canada.
This is the best example I have of the power of the Swirls.
Thank you Vicki.
 
I have a description from Vicki, but cannot paste it for some reason.
It is 108" by 114".
 
 
 
 

Oh my gosh that sounds wonderful!  Maybe someday.  For now I'm enjoying my Liberty. 

Quilt them...then love and enjoy them.  The only reason quilts used to be hand-quilted was because no one owned a long-arm!